I HAVE stressed, in two columns, that the projected $80 million the anti-oil lobby will use in the dozen or more writs it has filed against the oil industry could be used for the benefit of some poor folks who have medical problems, face basic income dilemmas and other pressing deficiencies that come with poverty.

The anti-lobby is one of the most financially endowed civil society groups the Caribbean has seen. If you take between 12 and 15 court cases with high priced lawyers, then do a ‘guesstimate’, the total bill will be somewhere in the vicinity of 80 to 90 million dollars. A businessman told me and Leonard Gildarie that a senior lawyer charged him two million dollars, just to file for an injunction against another business person.

I live in Guyana all my life and I can tell you with pyrotechnical accuracy that those lawyers who are involved in those dozen or more cases are not going to spend five or more consecutive years litigating in court, and they are doing so pro-bono. This has never happened in Guyana and I know this because I know based on my extensive knowledge of Guyana.

Vincent Alexander is one of the enduring prominent figures in Guyana. He is also influential in certain circles. Alexander lost a Court of Appeal (CoA) libel case he appealed against a High Court judgement for libel against the Chief Election Officer, Mr. Vishnu Persaud that Alexander lost. The CoA rejected the appeal to be filed out of time.

What this mean was that the appeal was not filed within the specified time limit. I use this example for context and the meaning is there for you to read between the lines.
In my 55 years of social activism, I can tell you with graphic details it is not easy to get lawyers, much less high-priced lawyers, to do a court case for free even though the violations involved are heart-breaking.

In those 15 court cases, either the anti-oil litigants are funding them out of their wealthy pockets and if their pockets are empty then, some source is footing the bill.
One of the groups that have brought many of the cases is Red Thread through the names of the sisters – Danuta and Vanda Radzik-Veira. Both sisters lost a second gas-to-shore trial last week as reported in this newspaper.

I was angry last Saturday evening when Ms. Radzik-Veira was one of the persons who delivered a message at the Mother’s Day vigil for the mothers who were victims of the holocaust or genocide in Gaza.
I did not want to disrupt such a solemn occasion hosted by people who are my close friends.

But I was strongly tempted to shout down Ms. Radzik-Veira asking her to spend the money for those court cases on poor people. In another column, I will describe a brief public conversation between the First Lady who gave the featured address at the vigil and Ms. Radzik-Veira. It centred on the First Lady’s accomplishment of the renovated Kingston and Eve Leary Seawall
Every one of the cases so far has been lost in the lower court and each process climaxes in the apex court – Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Apart from the losses, the three tiers of the judicial system also awarded cost. The two Veira sisters had to pay cost last week so one has to add the constant cost to the payment for lawyers.

Last week, the anti-oil lobby lost yet another court case; this time the CCJ decided in favour of an appeal by the Attorney-General that originated in the High Court. In the lower court, Justice Sandil Kissoon ruled that EXXON must provide unlimited insurance. Now follow the trail and you will see the anti-oil lobby has unlimited funds, some of which they should share with poor people.

One- Justice Kissoon ruled against Exxon and the Environmental Protection Agency in the writ brought by Mr. Frederick Collins of Guyana-Transparency Inc. Two- the defendants, EXXON and the EPA – asked the Full Court to reduce the amount which it did from unlimited to $2 billion. Three- The Attorney-General asked the High Court to add the AG to the case since the state is an essential party to the oil contract.

Four- After being denied by the High Court, the AG moved to the CoA. The AG lost there. Five- The AG moved to the CCJ where he won last week. I have outlined here five stages of a case involving the anti-oil lobby in which an enormous amount of money had to be paid to the lawyers for Mr. Collins. In every case brought by the anti-oil lobby, it has employed a school of lawyers. Where is the money coming from?